Children's Home run by Action for Children Services Ltd in Newcastle upon Tyne

Inspection report for children’s home: 2641044 1 Registered provider: Action for Children Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a children’s charity. The home can care for up to four children who have emotional and/or social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager were registered in November 2021.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2641044 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress in the home. Professionals say that the staff develop positive, trusting relationships with the children. This helps the children to manage their feelings and to improve their self-esteem. The children say they are happy and feel safe in their home. They can identify staff members who they say they can trust. One parent said that the home was ‘excellent’, and that the staff are doing an ‘amazing job of keeping (name of child) safe.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who live in the home develop a sense of belonging. Life-story books have recently started, which the children enjoy contributing to. Children who have moved on choose to stay in touch with staff members and other children. This gives the children the opportunity to build on networks of support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made good progress with their education considering their starting points. Children who were not attending school are now doing so with the proactive support of the staff. Education professionals say that they ‘value’ the staff’s communication and describe it as ‘brilliant’. Education professionals recognise that the staff motivate the children. Staff plan activities based on what the children have learned in school. This has helped develop the children’s interest in learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have developed positive relationships with the children’s family members. The children recognise that the staff advocate for them to see their family in the home, and they are grateful for this. However, the staff and the manager recognise that family time in the home can result in the children struggling to manage their feelings. Steps have not always been taken to manage this, which has resulted in some incidents in the home. The manager has learned from this, and family time is now kept under greater scrutiny.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children understand the complaints procedure and know how to complain. Children who complain are listened to, which has resulted in formal investigations. However, one child has not been formally informed of the outcome of their complaint. This means that they do not feel certain that their complaint has been taken seriously or acted on.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is generally very well-decorated and furnished, with photos of the children on the walls. However, the inspectors saw some repairs that required immediate attention to keep the children safe and well. Also, the practice of locking the kitchen door at night to safeguard the children has not been reviewed. This means the children are unnecessarily restricted from moving freely about their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children do not have a clear voice in the development of the home and its practices. Children’s meetings do not take place regularly. While staff have regular chats with the children, these do not purposefully gather the views of the children. In addition, Inspection report for children’s home: 2641044 3 certain documents, such as sanctions records, do not reflect the views of the children. This oversight prevents the children from having the opportunity to share their experiences and wishes, so that the manager can make effective changes in the home.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The staff and manager identify services to help to keep the children safe. The staff support the children to access these services, while having regular chats with them. This has improved the children’s understanding of how some of their behaviours can affect themselves and others.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

When children go missing from the home, which is an infrequent event, staff follow the home’s missing-from-home procedures. The staff are proactive in trying to locate the child. This includes searching known locations and contacting family members. When children return home, interviews are offered.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The staff share safeguarding information with professionals such as the police and education. This has created a network of professionals who all hold relevant information about the children, which helps to keep them safe.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children’s health needs are met, which includes some of the children having had their COVID-19 vaccine. The manager has forged positive relationships with local healthcare professionals. This means that the children benefit from having improved access to medical support.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Risk assessments are individual to the child and are regularly updated. However, these do not consistently consider all the children’s identified risks. This means that the staff do not know all of the children’s risks when they are caring for the child. Consequently, the staff do not always know how to best support the child. When new risks emerge, these risks are identified and plans are put into place to help the child. However, these plans are not always signed and dated by the staff, and these plans are not always actioned. This means that opportunities to support the children to become increasingly safe are missed.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Sanctions are not always clearly recorded. Therefore, it is unclear as to when a sanction is given. In addition, sanctions are not always restorative in nature. This means that the children are not always given the opportunity to reflect on their actions and what they can do to put things right.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The children are somewhat protected from known risks when accessing the internet through the home’s wi-fi security system. However, this can be bypassed by the children and there is no process in place to support the children in keeping safe when using their mobile phones. This is something the manager has reflected on and has a plan in place to address this. Inspection report for children’s home: 2641044 4

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good

The manager does not have an effective review and monitoring system in place. This has resulted in a significant number of widespread shortfalls being identified.

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good

Documents do not consistently have management oversight. They are often without the manager’s evaluation of what is proportionate and fair. Documents are frequently undated or unsigned by those recording the event and do not always reflect discussions that have taken place after an incident. This means it is unclear if actions are safe and appropriate.

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good

Assessments that the management team complete before a child moves into the home do not always consider all of the children’s known risks. The manager does not make full and effective use of the home’s psychologist when she is assessing the needs of children who may move into the home. This means there is a limited understanding about the child’s needs. This prevents the manager from fully considering if the child will get along, or be safe with, the other children already living in the home. This oversight has contributed towards one child moving on from the home prematurely.

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good

The manager is supported greatly by the area manager, who has positive working relationships with a wide range of professionals. The manager has developed her skills and experience as a result of the area manager’s support.

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good

The manager and area manager have identified areas for improvement since the home opened. They have plans in place to improve the safeguarding and recording systems in the home. There has also been an overhaul of the children’s admissions process. There is now a monitoring system of the children’s behaviours, which includes a review of the documentation to look for themes and trends. The manager has plans in place to consult the home’s psychologist more frequently, to reflect on how past traumas may affect the children’s behaviours. This is intended to help the children to better manage their relationships with the staff and each other.

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good

Staff in the home are employed as Therapeutic Residential Workers. The home’s statement of purpose sets out that staff are considered to be therapeutic once they have completed the home’s training programme. However, it is acknowledged by the manager that not all of the staff who hold this title have yet completed this training. Further training to develop the staff’s understanding of a therapeutic parenting approach is planned.

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good

The home is effectively staffed. The manager has revisited staffing levels appropriately in line with the needs of the children. All members of staff who are caring for the children are either fully up to date with mandatory training or imminently due to complete it.

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good

The manager has forged effective relationships with professionals. She is not afraid to challenge their decision-making on behalf of the children when she feels a Inspection report for children’s home: 2641044 5 misjustice has been done, such as with their education. The manager and area manager are confident in escalating this further when the need arises. Inspection report for children’s home: 2641044 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies; and

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iv)(v)(vii)(d)) 26 May 2022

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

promotes their welfare. 26 May 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2641044 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

the privacy of children is appropriately protected;

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the locking of the kitchen door. 26 May 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy ("the behaviour management policy") which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and 26 May 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2641044 8 within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (3)(a)(vii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to sanction records.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children are regularly consulted on their views about the home’s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children are formally informed of the outcome of any complaint which they make. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.13)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all records of restraint are reviewed to provide the opportunity for amending practice. In particular, the manager should review restraint records to ensure that any debrief taken with a child following a restraint is recorded. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they fully consider any circumstance which may require the restriction of contact, to safeguard or promote a child’s welfare. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 58, paragraph 11.6)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the social care common inspection framework. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Inspection report for children’s home: 2641044 9 Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report for children’s home: 2641044 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Action for Children

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Action for Children, 3 The Boulevard, Ascot Road, Watford WD18 8AG

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Inspectors

Julia Hagan, Social Care Inspector Paula Shepherd, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2641044 11 to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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